Getting There From Here

We have our plane tickets! We are departing Toronto on May 18, 2009 at 5:45pm and will arrive at Kilimanjaro Airport at 7:45pm the next day.

Traveling to Tanzania is an adventure in itself. There are no direct flights but there are several options. Last year we flew to London Heathrow via Air Transat and spent the night at an airport hotel. We slept the jet lag away and felt quite rested the next day when we flew to Nairobi, Kenya via British Airways. We arrived in the evening and were met by a driver from the guest house where we had reservations. The next afternoon we caught the Impala Bus to Arusha, Tanzania.


The bus driver puts all the luggage on the roof and covers it with a tarp. The trip takes 5 hours (including the border crossing) and is a nice way to see Kenya and Tanzania. The visa into Tanzania is $50US per person.

Darkness falls at 6pm at the equator and it was dark when we arrived in Arusha. We were tired and had a new appreciation for potholes. The roads in East Africa have many large and amazing potholes!

Now that we have experienced the Impala Bus trip we decided on an alternate route. KLM flies from Toronto to Amsterdam and then Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro. It is a 19 hour trip (including 3 hours in Amsterdam). We'll let you know what that is like after we arrive!

Job Descriptions

While we are in Africa we will not just be lazing around in the sunshine like this handsome fellow! We are committed to work in any capacity or role that is needed at Pamoja Ministries. To see all that is happening at Pamoja go to the website www.pamoja.info


The following are our job descriptions at this time:

Jeff will be the Systems Administrator. He will work in IT - upgrading and maintaining computer equipment. Jeff will also be working with the Director of Operations to supervise the maintenance, renovation and improvement of the buildings and equipment on the Pamoja Ministries property.

Jan will be the General Administrator for the Executive Director and the Director of Operations. She will also work with the Tanzanian office staff to help organize and manage the shipping and distribution of books and ISOM material to many countries in Africa. As a nurse, Jan will help the staff with medical issues and health teaching in the areas of first aid, nutrition, HIV/AIDS.

We expect to be very busy in these roles and wherever else we may be needed!

P.S. This lovely fellow is a Nile Crocodile. They are found in rivers and lakes over much of East Africa. They can grow to over 6m in length. The crocodile is mainly nocturnal, spending much of the day submerged in water between bouts of basking on sand bars and riverbanks. Just hanging out until some lunch comes by . . . . SNAP!

Teach Yourself Swahili

"Teach Yourself Swahili" by D.V. Perrott is going to become our new best friend! The author says, "Swahili is an easy language. There are no real difficulties of pronunciation and none of spelling. The reader will find that it is indeed possible to teach himself (and hopefully herself) Swahili with this book." Joy Feser obtained this book for us and assures us that is true! So, we will teach ourselves over the next 5 months and when we arrive in Tanzania Joy will be our language tutor.

We are also using a computer program called Rosetta Stone. This program is very helpful as you hear the language being spoken and have the opportunity to speak it back into the computer and have your pronunciation assessed.

A couple of basic things to wrap our heads around:
1. In Swahili changes to nouns come at the beginning instead of at the end as in English.
2. The order of the words in a sentence is the reverse of their order in English.

So far I can say:
1. kibanda kimoja na vyumba vinne (one hut and four rooms)
2. kitanda kirefu na kiti kikubwa (a long bed and a large chair)
3. vikombe vinne na vijiko (four cups and spoons)

Our Tanzanian Resident Permits Are Approved!

YES! Our Resident Permits have been approved. These permits will be valid for two years and are necessary even for volunteers who are working in Tanzania.

This is a copy of the first page of the two-page application. We filled out three copies each and attached our letter of invitation from Pamoja Ministries. The letter outlined the positions they would like us to fill and our particular skills sets that qualify us for these jobs. We had to include our Curriculum Vitae, 5 passport photos, copies of all pages of our passports, and photocopies of all our Diplomas and our marriage certificate. It was all mailed off to Tanzania mid-October and we were hoping to hear by Christmas. It was a very pleasant surprise to get the good news today!

If you would like to learn more about Tanzania visit the BBC News profile at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1072330.stm

You will see a map of the country. We will be living about 45 minutes from Mt. Kilimanjaro